New York's Great Lost Ballparks by Bob Carlin

Author:Bob Carlin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Published: 2022-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

ITHACA

DRIVING PARK

Location: unknown

Dimensions: unknown

Home Team(s): Ithaca Ithacas

Built/In Operation: 1876

Seats/Capacity: unknown

Fun Facts: Driving Park was utilized for a variety of sports, including horse racing and college baseball. The park was still in use during 1901.

FMI: W. Lloyd Johnson, “John Clapp and Club Base Ball in Ithaca,” in Puff, The Empire State of Base Ball.

LITTLE FALLS

RIVERSIDE PARK

Location: Carden’s Flats, bordered by the Mohawk River to the south, the railroad tracks and Herkimer Road to the north

Dimensions: unknown

Home Team(s): Little Falls/Central New York League

Built/In Operation: 1886

Seats/Capacity: 1,000

Fun Facts: Amateur baseball in Little Falls flourished from 1867 until the 1880s, with teams such as Rough & Readys, the Pastimes, the Excelsiors, the Alerts, and the Rocktons utilizing for grounds the Petrie farm on the Eatonville Road (todays Route 169), Casler’s Flats (Southern Avenue), the hill behind Furnace Street (Skinner’s Flats), and Eastern Park.

In 1886, three local businessmen—Frank Burgor, Horace Tozer, and Stuart Devendorf—formed a “base ball association” in order to (finally) bring professional ball to Little Falls. Amateur players themselves, the trio sold shares in the franchise to raise the necessary funds to build a field and assemble personnel. An invitation from the Central New York League cemented the deal and plans moved forward. On a six-acre plot, Riverside Park, with a diamond, grandstand, and 1,700 feet of board fencing, was quickly erected.

Unfortunately, the Little Falls team only lasted for this one season. Although Riverside Park continued to be used for amateur ball, professional baseball wouldn’t return for another 90 years.

FMI: Krutz, “Early Baseball in Little Falls and the Little Falls Baseball Association.”

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